Button-sewing machine.



W. L. BARRON. BUTTON SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30.19!!- 1,1 5 11 ,853. Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

WI T/VESSE S l/VI/E/V TOR WW Q/ A TTOH/VEY nnrTnn STATES PATENT @FJFIGE.

'WILLIAll/l L. BARRON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGER MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, A CORPORATION 015 NEW JERSEY.

BUTTON-SEWING- MACHINE.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 31, 11915.

Application filed June 30, 1911. Serial No. 636,173.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, VVILLIAM L. BARRON,

a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State otNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button- Sewing Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has for its object to provide effective means for attaching to a fabric integral-shank buttons or those having upon the back of the head a solid shank pressed, molded or otherwise termed thereon and adapted to be penetrated by the needle in applying the fastening stitches; and it has for a further object to provide button-holding means adapted to accommodate interchangeably different sizes and varieties of such type of buttons.

In its preferred form, the improvement is embodied in the jogging work-clamp of a button sewing machine of the well known Singer type, as disclosed in the United States patent to J. J. Sullivan N0. 7775M, dated December 13, 1904. As so constructed, the work-clamp comprises a work-supporting plate provided with the usual needle-aperture and constituting the lower member of the work-holder, and the buttonholder constituting the upper member of the work-holder, which is carried by a springpressed sustaining arm. The button-holder is provided with a button-head cavity arranged in angular relation with the worksupporting plate and afforded by the spaced and reversely inclined extremities of two spring-pressed clamp-arms each carrying a spring-finger for pressing the button-head upon the seat afforded by its respective operative extremity. lhe work-supporting plate has adjacent that side of the needleaperture opposite the button-head cavity of the button-holder a work-supporting block whose top is substantially at or slightly above the center of a button-shank extending toward the same between the buttonhead seats, to permit the fabric to be introduced beneath the button-holder and turned upwardly intermediate the latter and said block and into contact with the end of the button shank, and then over the top of such block upon which it is pressed by means of a presser-foot adjustably secured to the sus taining arm of the button-holder. Y

To insure against the clinging of the button to the needle and its premature dislodgment from the holder, a spring-pressed detaining member is mounted upon said sustaining arm with its operative portion normally above the button-head cavity and ad- Jacent the needle-path. Means are provided for retracting this detaining member when the clamp is opened by lifting the buttonholder.

.ln the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 1S a perspective view of a button-holding worl-z-clamp constructed in accordance with the present improvement, in connection with a portion oi a sewing machine, and Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the clamp, showing the lower worlcsupporting member and the throatplate in transverse section. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the button-holder taken from the under side. Fig. 5 is a per spective view of the lower clamp member.

The head 1 of the sewing machine bracketarm has journaled therein, as usual, the vertically reciprocating needle-bar 2 carrying the needle 8 which constitutes one member of the stitch-forming mechanism, and the s ring-pressed bar at to whose lower end is secured the block 5 carrying the lateral clamp-lifting pin 6. Resting upon the throat-plate 7 is the flat work-supporting plate 8 forming the lower member of the work-holder and formed with the needleaperture 9 enlarged to accommodate the heads of the buttons. The plate 8 is provided at the side of the needle-aperture 0pposite the button-head enlargement with the rectangular block 10 formed in one edge with the needle-clearance notch 11 in register with the adjacent portion of the needleaperture. The primary work-supporting member 8 is secured by means of a screwstud 12 and dowel-pins 13 upon the forward end of the slide-bar 14 which carries upon its rearward end the block 15 recessed to receive the downturned rearward end 16 of the upper work-clamp arm 17 pivotally mounted therein, as more fully shown and described in the United States patent to G.

M. Horton, No. 1,051,998, of February 4:,

1913, and having a backwardly ofl'set opposite end portion 18 terminating in the sustaining plate 19 for the button-holder. In practice the slide-bar may be actuated by any usual or"suitab1e means, such as those represented in the United States patent to J. J. Sullivan, No. 777,564, of December 13, 1904, for producing between it and the stitch-forming mechanism relative lateral jogging movements. Secured by means of the screw 20 upon a suitable seat in the top of the block 15 is the arched pressure spring 21 whose forked forward end rests upon the arm 17 and embraces the stud 22 thereon.

tion of the spring 35. The

' tion of the by a U-shaped spring whose rearward limb 27 is secured thereto by means of the fastening screw 28, while the forward limb 29 rests upon the outer face of the member 25 and overlies the button-head seat 26, so as to produce in conjunction therewith one of the separable parts of the button-head cavity of the button-holder which is disposed in angular relation with the face of the work-supporting plateand parallel with the path of reciprocation of the needle.

The clamp-levers 24 are provided with depending pins 30 entering the divergently arranged cam-slots 31 of a guide-plate 32 secured to the slide-block 33 fitted Within the guide-channel 34 in the bottom of the sustaining plate 19 and normally drawn forward to force the button-clamp jaws together by means of the spring 35 having one end attached to the stud-screw 36 passing through the slot 37 of the 'plate 19 and tapped into the slide-block 33, while the other end of such spring is connected with the post 38 whose hooked upper end 39 extends over the clamp-lifting pin 6. The screw 40,a1so tapped into the slide-block 33 and working in the guide-slot 37 serves, in conjunction with the stud-screw 36 to retain the slide-block 33 in position.

The'normal. position of the cam-plate 32 and hence of the button-clamp jaws 25 is determined by means of the stop-lever 41 fulcrumed upon the screw-pin 42 and secured adjustably in position by means of the clamp-screw 43, and against which the stud-screw 36 normally rests under the acplate 19 has at its forward end the depending lug 19 to which is fitted the channeled rearward face of the shank 44 of the r'esser-foot 45 which is adjustably secured 1n position by means of the fastening screw 47 passing through a slot46 in said shank. The operative porresser-foot overlies the worksupporting lock 10 and is in ractice so adjusted that it'presses the fabrlc adjacent gliekstitching position firmly upon such In the use of the device, the button is inserted from the top into the cavity afforded by the opposed jaws and their confining spring-fingers. To insure against the premature withdrawal of the button from such cavity in the stitching operation, a detaining member is provided which normally overlies the button-cavity but is temporarily retracted for introduction of the buttons. This detaining member comprises a swinging lever fulcrumed upon the stud-screw 48, and is shown herein formed in two parts49 and 50, the former of which overlies the offhead cavity of the holder. The part 49 of the detaining lever carries a pin 55 to which is connected one end of a spring 56 having its opposite end attached to the post 38 by means of which the lever is maintained normally in operative position in which its edge rests against the stop-pin 57 upon the arm 18. Secured to the bracket-arm head 1 by means of the screw 58 is a rigid de pending arm 59 having at its lower end the laterally inclined cam edge 60 disposed slightly above the inner edge of the lever section 49 and slightly in advance of the arm 18. The lifting of the arm 18 with the button-holder brings the detaining lever into engagement with the cam-edge 60 and causes the retraction of the operative extremity thereof from normal relation with the button-cavity.

The manner of using, the improvement will be seen by reference more particularly to Fig. 3. The raising of the lifting bar 4 by the usual means causes the engagement of the pin 6 with the post 38 and the consequent raising of the sustaining plate 19 of the button-holder, whereby the latter is 11fted from the work-supporting plate 8 and the button-detainer is retracted, as represented in Figs. 1 and 2. The button is then introduced into thebutton-cavity from the top with the back of its head I) in contact with the inclined seats 26 of the jaws 25, the front or upper side of its head pressed 1nwardly by the spring-fingers 29, and the shank 6' extended between the jaws 25to expose its transverse aperture 6 for passage of the needle in its outer thrust. The material m is then placed upon the sup- I porting plate 8 with the portlon to recelve the button-attaching stitches adjacent the menses ment of the needle-aperture 9 of the plate 8 and into the clearance recess 7* of the throatplate beneath the same, and the buttonshank bends the material over the forward edge of the block 10 and into contact with its adjacent extremity. The lowering of the clamp serves to disengage the detaining lever from its retracting cam and permits it to assume operative relation with the button-holder wherein its extremity 54 overlies the button-cavity and rests in contact with the upper edge of the button.

The operation of the machine now proceeds, the relative jogging movements between the needle and the work-clamp effecting the descent of the needle alternately through the button-shank aperture and the material adjacent the end of the buttonshank, whereby a series of fastening stitches s is produced by which the end of the button-shank is bound closeliy to the face of the material, the height of the top of the work-supporting block 10 relative to the upper side of the button-shank determining the amount of play of the button upon the fastening stitches and the degree of flexibility of the button fastening. As will be seen by reference more particularly to Fig. 5, the needle-aperture of the work-support is formed partly in the body of the plate 8 and partly in the front face of the block 10 which afiords the deflecting shoulder for the material to sustain the latter in contact with the end of the button-shank. This position of the needle-aperture is required to permit the needle-punctures to be applied to the material alternately above and below that portion lying along the face of the block 10 parallel with the path of reciprocation of the needle.

The machine to which the present workholder is applied is provided beneath the throat-plate with thread-cutting mechanism for severing the fastening threads after each button-fastening operation, and the loose ends of thread left after each stitching operation therefore remain upon the under side of the work. As, according to the present imfiovement, the button is clamped within its holder entirely independent of the fabric to which it is to be attached, it will be seen that the character of the fabric and its thickness do not affect the positioning of the button-shank relatively to the. needle. Thisis a matter of importance, for the reason that, especially in pressed or molded integral-shank buttons the threadaperture in the shank is comparatively small and must be located with precision relative to the needle-path in order to prevent the breaking of either the needle or the button by reason of imperfect register of the one with the other.

As the fulcrum-studs 23 for the buttonclamping arms 24 are sustained in fixed relation to the work-holder, they serve to determine positively the position of the button-head seat 26 relative to the inner and outer paths of reciprocation of the needle, but the resilience of the spring-fingers 29 adapts the button-head cavity to yield in depth for accommodation of button-heads of different thicknesses and the adjustment of the stop-lever 41 serves to determine the initial spacing of the jaws to accommodate button-heads of different diameters. The yielding character of the button-head cavity, while fixing with precision the initial position of the button-shank relative to the needle, permits the slight movement thereon of the button to compensate for the crowding of the needle from one side or the other of the button-shank aperture by reason of its partial filling by the fastening threads in the course of a stitching operation. In practice, it has been found that the breakage of needles has been greatly reduced by the employment of the yielding fingers 29 permitting the button to accommodate itself to the needle under the conditions referred to.

While the various constructive features herein shown and described obviously contribute to the eifectiveness of the buttonholder, it is evident that certain of them are susceptible of modification or may be wholly omitted from association with others without departure from the present inven' tion.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is 1. Work-holding means comprising a work-supporting member having a worksustaining operative face provided with a shoulder in angular relation therewith, and a button-holding member constructed with a pair of reciprocally movable levers provided with jaws adapted to yieldingly engage a button-head at opposite sides of its shank aperture and sustained by and movable with their respective levers in a path substantially parallel with the face of said shoulder, means connected with said jaws for pressing them toward each other, and means carried by and adapted to frictionally maintain a button in engagement with said the face of said shoulder, means connected with said jaws for pressing them toward each other, and a spring-finger carried by each of said jaws for frictionally maintaining the button in engagement therewith.

3. Work-holding means comprising a worlcsupporting member having a worksustaining operative face provided with a shoulder in angular relation therewith, and

. a button-holding. member constructed with a support, a pair of reciprocally movable jaws upon said support and confined to; movement in a path' substantially parallel with the face of said shoulder, spring-actum ated means including an adjustable stop for a pair of opposed and reciprocally movable supporting member, means connected with levers mounted upon said support and provided with laterally spaced jaws having vertical button-head engaging faces in angular relation with the operative face of the worksaid jaws for pressing them toward each other, and means carried by said levers for yieldingly holding a button-head in engagementwith said jaws with its shank projecting between the same.

5. In a button-sewing machine, thecombination with stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocating needle, of a worksupport provided with a shoulder in angular relation with and extending above the operative face of the same and with a needleaperture, and a button-holder constructed with separable jaws affording a seat for the button-head sustained at a fixed distance from the range of movement of the needle and spring-fingers each carried by one of ,said jaws and each overhanging its respective portion of the button-head seat, thereby producing a yielding button-head cavity.

6. In a button-sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocating needle, of a worksupport provided with a shoulder in angular relation with and extending above the operative face of the same and with a needle-apcrture formed partly in the body of the work-support and partly in the face of said shoulder, and a button-holder constructed with separable jaws affording a seat for the button-head sustained at a fixed distance from the range of movement of the needle and spring-fingers each carried by one of said jaws and each overhanging its respective portion of the button-head seat, thereby producing a yielding button-head cavity.

7 In a button-sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocating needle, of a worksupport, a button-holder movable bodily toward and from the work-support and provided with an open-topped button-head cavity arranged transversely to the worksupport, a button-detainer laterally movable toward and from operative position above said button-cavity, and common means for 7 

